How the Konyak Community in Nagaland Is Reviving Its Forests Through Youth-Led Conservation

In Nagaland’s Konyak tribe (synonymous with headhunting until the 1960s), every household possesses a gun. The purpose is to hunt animals. The more informed youth of the village blame unemployment for the rampant hunting practices observed in Changlangshu village of Nagaland and refer to hunting as “an addictive game”.

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Engba Konyak, a nature educator, part of the Minleang Eco Club (a collaboration between community-based conservation initiatives GreenHub and Canopy Collective), shares, “If our forefathers spotted an animal, they would kill it. But we are teaching our children to love birds and animals.” 

The Minleang Eco Club is part of the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), which was started in 2015 by GreenHub Fellow Wanmei Konyak — the GreenHub Fellowship works to turn youth in northeast India into storytellers of conservation. Wanmei aims to create awareness among the local youth about the harmful impact of hunting.

As he shares, “In 2015, when I applied for the GreenHub fellowship, I got the opportunity to see the national parks and reserve forests in Arunachal Pradesh. I was so surprised to see their forests, wildlife and how the community was involved in conservation.” Wanmei borrowed inspiration from this model and decided to start a similar conservation initiative in his village of Changlangshu. 

One of their earliest endeavours was to propose a ban on hunting during the breeding season (between April and October). This was instituted in 2019. But aside from addressing hunting practices, the Biodiversity Management Committee also focuses on reviving Changlangshu’s lost ecology, which began waning as a result of the jhum cultivation (slash-and-burn agriculture). 

Through the committee’s intervention, the team has expanded the area under forest restoration, set up a nursery in the village, and worked with the community to reserve a plot of land to grow a forest. Along with this, the committee has also created a herbal garden, which will support livelihood generation among the locals. 

The documentary filmed by GreenHub Fellows Bomjar Boje and Chitankumar Thingbaijam traces the work of the Biodiversity Management Committee and the Eco Club, underscoring how interventions rooted in community participation and local sentiment can lead to lasting, meaningful change.

This story is part of a content series by The Better India and GreenHub.

All pictures courtesy GreenHub